Amy Jarvi’s work offers a new interdisciplinary framework for understanding how school systems shape — and often distort — the developmental lives of children and the moral lives of educators. Drawing from developmental science, social psychology, moral philosophy, and lived classroom practice, she introduces the concept of developmental harm reduction in schooling: a model that identifies how institutional structures predictably injure students’ identity formation, belonging, and psychological well-being, while simultaneously producing moral injury in teachers.
Unlike traditional approaches that isolate academic outcomes, behavioral challenges, or teacher burnout, Jarvi’s framework reveals these as interconnected symptoms of deeper systemic misalignment between human developmental needs and the operational logic of modern schooling. Her work synthesizes Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, Lerner’s relational developmental systems, Noddings’ ethics of care, Greene’s imagination, Palmer’s integrity of teaching, and the Science of Learning and Development (SoLD) research into a coherent and accessible lens that practitioners can immediately apply.
At its core, her contribution is the articulation of a psychology of power, identity, and belonging within school systems—showing how everyday routines, instructional mandates, pacing, evaluation structures, and cultural narratives embed psychological forces that shape who children become and whether teachers can act in alignment with their professional ethics. Through narrative analysis and developmental insight, she demonstrates how classroom micro-moments mirror systemic pressures, and she offers a path toward redesigning schools to “do no harm”: to cultivate environments where thinking, humanity, and relational integrity are not squeezed out by the machinery of compliance.
Jarvi’s work builds a bridge between academic developmental science and the lived emotional and ethical realities of schools, creating a novel and deeply resonant framework capable of informing policy, leadership, teacher practice, and public discourse.
Book Projects
I’m currently writing two complementary books that explore how schools shape who we become.
Do No Harm: The Hidden Psychology of Power, Identity, and Belonging in Schools examines the deep psychological forces that govern modern education—how systems built on control and performance can unintentionally harm the very people they aim to help.
Its companion for a wider audience,
Reteaching Humanity: Restoring Heart, Mind, and Community to Schools, brings these ideas to life through stories from my own classrooms, revealing how teachers and students can rediscover connection, meaning, and humanity in the everyday work of learning.
Together, these books argue that education is never neutral: it either nurtures or it wounds—and it’s time to build schools that heal.
Dissertation Work
I am preparing for doctoral study in psychology, where I will investigate how belonging, identity, and justice intersect in young people’s lives. My research interests include how school structures influence social cognition, how discrimination is experienced and internalized, and what systems can be built to promote resilience and equity.
Student Advocacy
Beyond the classroom and the page, I use writing and public speaking to amplify one central conviction: we can design schools that do no harm. Whether through essays, talks, or dialogue with educators and families, I strive to bring the hidden lessons of schooling into public conversation and to imagine better paths forward.
My Stance
- Do no harm. Schools should never damage the children they serve.
- Belonging is power. Every young person deserves to feel safe, seen, and valued.
- When we know better, we do better. Research and practice must respond to lived experiences, not ignore them.
- Justice is developmental. The way we treat students shapes their sense of identity, fairness, and possibility.
- Education is human development. Teaching is not just about content — it is about who students become.
